MANCHESTER – Two goals from senior forward Rowan Arndt and a nearly impeccable game from freshman goalie Carter Heise kept the Tide rolling and Concord will return to the Division I boys’ hockey championship after beating the Hanover Bears, 3-1, at JFK Coliseum on Wednesday afternoon. 

It signals a return to form for the Tide under long-time head coach Dunc Walsh after making it three years in a row between 2020-2022, but the job’s not finished yet. The Crimson Tide will play for the title on Saturday at SNHU Arena in Manchester. The NHIAA has not yet announced the start times.

“We’re just happy we’re playing, and we have the opportunity to win,” Walsh said before the second semifinal game started. “Everybody gets better as the season goes on, everybody, the games mean so much more. So no matter who we play, it’s going to be a tough game.”

Top-seeded Concord (18-2-0) returned to action after a weekend of rest and two days of practice, ready to take down the fifth-seeded Hanover Bears (11-7-2). The depth of Concord was on full display, the defense shut down Hanover, and the offense shot on target relentlessly until the end.

“I thought we would play well with the first period I thought we really came out and took it to them. In the second period, they had the better chances, and then in the third period, I thought we played well, played smart down the stretch, recycled it, keeping it low, just burying the pocket and trying to just let the clock keep running,” Walsh added.

Arndt opened the scoring for the Tide eight minutes into the game with intelligent forechecking on Hanover’s freshman defenseman Logan Smith, who was rounding the ice behind his goal. Arndt fired quickly from the right wing while turning his body towards goal and it slotted into the top left corner faster than sophomore goalie Bryce Morancy could react.

Hanover hit Concord hard on the boards, and did whatever possible to try to disrupt Concord’s quick tape-to-tape passing and quick offense. Concord stayed strong through the end of the first period and outshot Hanover, 13-4.

The second period was considerably more difficult as the Bears hunted for a goal of their own. Four minutes in, junior forward Ronan Przydzielski fired a shot off from the left-wing goal line, but he found freshman goalie Heise slightly out of position, and even though Heise blocked the shot – it ricocheted into the skate of a backtracking Concord defenseman and the net to even the score for Hanover.

After that, Heise did not hesitate again and saved a total of 21 shots throughout the game to see his team through the semifinal.

“I think that you shouldn’t think about a goal after it happens for much longer. I probably was a little upset about it for like a minute,” Heise said. “Then I shook it off and then it was just to the confidence that I had beforehand. It was unfortunate and we lost our lead, but I knew that our team would come through.”

Defensively, multiple players came up clutch for the Tide. Senior defensemen Tyler Fennelly and Cam Chandonnet had very good positioning and posturing during Hanover’s opportunities, played big, and had crucial puck pokes to keep the Tide in the game.

Near the end of the second, Arndt came up big on a breakaway where he showed off his skills and sent a wrist shot with force that rattled the top bar of the goal and fell in to put Concord ahead going into the last period, assisted by junior defenseman Brayden Beauregard.

“We’re just trying to set the tone, we got three pretty even lines, but we just try to go out there and get our boys going and see what happens from there,” he said. “They came out pretty hard. So the second goal was kind of an energy shift, but definitely needed.”

Senior forward Trevor Craigue was the Tide’s enforcer in the semifinal, but was handed two penalties in the second period, one for cross-checking and another for slashing, both of which the Tide killed effectively. Late in the game, with Concord ahead by a goal, he would redeem himself by securing the win with a precise strike and only five minutes left.

Alexander Rapp can be reached at arapp@cmonitor.com